BarnFabRC Slash Build Thread

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BarnFabRC

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Location
Philadephia PA
RC Driving Style
  1. Racing
Just want to show off the Slash I’ve been piecing together over the last few months. I’m primarily building it for parking lot racing/general street use but I’m also gonna do some speed running with it as soon as find a suitable place to let it rip. I live in Philly so there’s not a lot of open roads available. Down by the Phillies and Eagles stadiums there are some HUGE parking lots one of them has almost a 1/4 mile open stretch. I’m not sure yet though if I can run there without getting chased out by the cops or security.

70285007981__259DD5CA-571B-4A28-AED7-974E59DF73CF.jpeg

This is what I started with. Just a blank factory Traxxas Slash 4x4 LCG pan.


It was so much fun nerding out and ordering all the parts. I’m using a Castle 1515 motor and Monster X ESC. Spektrum DX5C/6100AT radio set. I really like the green color of the motor so I used Integy billet arms and shock towers and a few other pieces. I was a little nervous having read reviews about Integy in general but the stuff I got from them seems to be pretty nice except the motor mount. That was too thick to allow for the stock battery hold down. Also running Mod1 gears on a stock slipper right now. I have the center diff in my Rustler and I really like it but I haven’t found any way to convert it to Mod1 yet. If anyone knows of someone making Mod1 spur gears for it let me know!!

IMG_1877.jpeg

Everything came together really nicely. I’m running ProLine powerstroke shocks front and rear. I think I’m going to get a second set of fronts to put on the back to help get the ride height a little lower. Also bought a big piece of carbon fiber sheet to make some stuff out of. Made the ESC mount from it so far. I used the nerf bar mounting points to attach it. It left a nice hidden void to tuck all the excess cables in. Turned out pretty clean I think. I bought the rally bumper cause it has nice low body posts but they’re a little to wide and the post lands right were the “hood” ends and the fender/headlight begins on the Porsche body. Jury is still out on how I’m gonna remedy that. I might bridge them with a piece of carbon fiber and use the nice proline threaded body posts.

IMG_1879.jpeg


This is the body I’ll be doing speed run stuff with. Delta Plastik Slash 911 Porsche 1.5mm. I’m still obsessing over how I want to mount it and how I’m going to cut the wheel arches. It’s still on the shelf uncut as of right now.

IMG_1890.jpeg

I made these cut guides at work a few weeks ago. We have a pretty nice laser cutter in the shop. I took a few measurements and drew these up in autocad. I think they’re going to work well I just need to figure the body mounts and ride height out before I cut.

IMG_1891.jpeg

Another Integy piece I bought was their setup stand. Man… this thing is miles ahead of just about any other way to set up the suspension. If I had ever need to buy another one I’ll probably grab the Hudy. I just wasn’t sure so I went with the cheaper one.

IMG_1925.jpeg

IMG_1924.jpeg

This will be how it’s setup most of the time for lot racing. All the guys I run with have Slash ultimates at varying levels of hooked up. Everyone is running slicks for the races. I can gear down so I’m not just running circles around them and keep things competitive.

IMG_1931.jpeg
IMG_1932.jpeg

And today I painted the body. I absolutely love these GRP wheels so naturally I had to do what I could to match the body. It turned out pretty good. There’s a few spots that bled under the mask but after a few races it won’t even matter haha.

That’s up to date. As I make changes and add to it I’ll continue this thread.

IMG_1843.jpeg
 
Just want to show off the Slash I’ve been piecing together over the last few months. I’m primarily building it for parking lot racing/general street use but I’m also gonna do some speed running with it as soon as find a suitable place to let it rip. I live in Philly so there’s not a lot of open roads available. Down by the Phillies and Eagles stadiums there are some HUGE parking lots one of them has almost a 1/4 mile open stretch. I’m not sure yet though if I can run there without getting chased out by the cops or security.

View attachment 165481
This is what I started with. Just a blank factory Traxxas Slash 4x4 LCG pan.


It was so much fun nerding out and ordering all the parts. I’m using a Castle 1515 motor and Monster X ESC. Spektrum DX5C/6100AT radio set. I really like the green color of the motor so I used Integy billet arms and shock towers and a few other pieces. I was a little nervous having read reviews about Integy in general but the stuff I got from them seems to be pretty nice except the motor mount. That was too thick to allow for the stock battery hold down. Also running Mod1 gears on a stock slipper right now. I have the center diff in my Rustler and I really like it but I haven’t found any way to convert it to Mod1 yet. If anyone knows of someone making Mod1 spur gears for it let me know!!

View attachment 165484
Everything came together really nicely. I’m running ProLine powerstroke shocks front and rear. I think I’m going to get a second set of fronts to put on the back to help get the ride height a little lower. Also bought a big piece of carbon fiber sheet to make some stuff out of. Made the ESC mount from it so far. I used the nerf bar mounting points to attach it. It left a nice hidden void to tuck all the excess cables in. Turned out pretty clean I think. I bought the rally bumper cause it has nice low body posts but they’re a little to wide and the post lands right were the “hood” ends and the fender/headlight begins on the Porsche body. Jury is still out on how I’m gonna remedy that. I might bridge them with a piece of carbon fiber and use the nice proline threaded body posts.

View attachment 165485

This is the body I’ll be doing speed run stuff with. Delta Plastik Slash 911 Porsche 1.5mm. I’m still obsessing over how I want to mount it and how I’m going to cut the wheel arches. It’s still on the shelf uncut as of right now.

View attachment 165486
I made these cut guides at work a few weeks ago. We have a pretty nice laser cutter in the shop. I took a few measurements and drew these up in autocad. I think they’re going to work well I just need to figure the body mounts and ride height out before I cut.

View attachment 165487
Another Integy piece I bought was their setup stand. Man… this thing is miles ahead of just about any other way to set up the suspension. If I had ever need to buy another one I’ll probably grab the Hudy. I just wasn’t sure so I went with the cheaper one.

View attachment 165492
View attachment 165493
This will be how it’s setup most of the time for lot racing. All the guys I run with have Slash ultimates at varying levels of hooked up. Everyone is running slicks for the races. I can gear down so I’m not just running circles around them and keep things competitive.

View attachment 165494View attachment 165495
And today I painted the body. I absolutely love these GRP wheels so naturally I had to do what I could to match the body. It turned out pretty good. There’s a few spots that bled under the mask but after a few races it won’t even matter haha.

That’s up to date. As I make changes and add to it I’ll continue this thread.

View attachment 165482
IT IS WU-TANG!!! NICE!!!! (I couldn't see the whole "W" in your other post) Love it!! :thumbs-up: ✌️
 
UPDATE:

Spent some time tonight going through all the initial tuning and making sure all systems at functioning before I go out for my first real day of driving this thing tomorrow.

I set up the logging set limits and ramps where I’m totally guessing how they’ll work. The timing is at zero and I’ll bump it up after I get a baseline on how things look.

I also got in a better set of batteries. Two 2s 100c and two 3s 50c. I have to solder the IC5 on the ESC at my actual shop. Don’t have an iron at home. Gonna have to change that.

IMG_1957.jpeg


They’re all hard case which I really like. And I imagine they’ll pull harder than the Traxxas ones I had in it for a minute.

I found this motor mount on ePay and it’s pretty nice. There’s some stuff I don’t like about it but eventually I’ll make some design changes and sneak it in the CNC at work.
IMG_1950.jpeg
IMG_1949.jpeg


It’s gonna let me run some big pinions down the road. I’m at an 18:42 right now.

I plan to start the day with some drag pulls on 4s then download the log and see what it looks like. Then probably a bunch of oval laps on 3s to see if things start to get hot. Maybe sneak in a 6S pull or two just to see what it feels like.

I’m really stoked on this ESC so far just with the amount of stuff you can manipulate.
 
UPDATE: I finally got around to trimming and painting the Delta Plastik Porsche 911 body!

Started by getting the body posts sorted and wheel arches cut. I tried the score and fold method for the first time and it really worked well. Only a few rough spots that are barely noticeable.
IMG_2008.jpeg
IMG_2007.jpeg



Got it all masked up and washed it out with some glass cleaner and a microfiber.

IMG_2012.jpeg


Next I laid down a whole can of Tamiya PS-46. Just kept doing light coats till the can ran out.

Camera doesn’t really show it but you can see the iridescence so you know where you’ve covered.

IMG_2014.jpeg


Then I laid down the PS-5 black backer paint. Again light coats until the can ran out.

IMG_2015.jpeg



Finally pulled all the masks and the outer protective layer then applied some stickers to finish it off.

IMG_2019.jpeg

IMG_2021.jpeg

IMG_2023.jpeg


I need to figure out what I want to do for a wing. The body came with one but I don’t really like it.
I think I’m going to use either an 1/8 scale buggy wing or maybe make something from carbon fiber that resembles a crazy time attack wing.

For now it’s gonna hang out on its wall mount until this weekend. Let’s hope I don’t loop this one over on the first day out like I did to the slash body haha

IMG_2025.jpeg
 
UPDATE: I finally got around to trimming and painting the Delta Plastik Porsche 911 body!

Started by getting the body posts sorted and wheel arches cut. I tried the score and fold method for the first time and it really worked well. Only a few rough spots that are barely noticeable.
View attachment 167036View attachment 167035


Got it all masked up and washed it out with some glass cleaner and a microfiber.

View attachment 167037

Next I laid down a whole can of Tamiya PS-46. Just kept doing light coats till the can ran out.

Camera doesn’t really show it but you can see the iridescence so you know where you’ve covered.

View attachment 167038

Then I laid down the PS-5 black backer paint. Again light coats until the can ran out.

View attachment 167039


Finally pulled all the masks and the outer protective layer then applied some stickers to finish it off.

View attachment 167040
View attachment 167041
View attachment 167042

I need to figure out what I want to do for a wing. The body came with one but I don’t really like it.
I think I’m going to use either an 1/8 scale buggy wing or maybe make something from carbon fiber that resembles a crazy time attack wing.

For now it’s gonna hang out on its wall mount until this weekend. Let’s hope I don’t loop this one over on the first day out like I did to the slash body haha

View attachment 167043
Great job!! Looks awesome!! :thumbs-up: 😁
 
Been wanting to try the Tamiya iridescent paint, your great work convinced me to give it a try. Looks really nice!
 
From what I've seen folks are using a front tower and shocks in the back on these setups? Ever think about it?
Awesome build man! Thought about doing it with my slash 4x4 but I love sending it to the moon too much 🤣
Every time I see one built like this it makes me think though.
 
From what I've seen folks are using a front tower and shocks in the back on these setups? Ever think about it?
Awesome build man! Thought about doing it with my slash 4x4 but I love sending it to the moon too much 🤣
Every time I see one built like this it makes me think though.
Hadn’t thought about the front tower in the rear but the front shocks in the rear is definitely on my radar. I’m planning to put some limiters in the rears this week so I can crank up the preload a bunch. It definitely squats a lot on launch. I’m hoping I can find a few hours this weekend to run some laps at my favorite parking lot. I want to get some good video to review and see if that makes a difference.
 
Wow, nice build! It's so pretty.

If you are going to send it/speed run it, you will want the front much lower than the rear and limit squat as you mentioned.

I have a Slash as well. If I crank up the preload it stiffens it, but also raises the height and makes it a bit tippy. But I'm also running SCT tires, not GRPs and that doesn't help

To limit the squat, some people use nitro tubing on the shock shaft, which I have done and it works, but it's a huge pain in the butt. Otherd lock the rear with turn buckles. I'm not a fan of that because my road aren't smooth enough. It's an infinite spring rate and it can get really bouncy really quickly.

What does work is to put grommets over the shock shaft creating a bump stop. It's way easier than the nitro tubing and is pretty solid. This is what I did for my Limitless. The link below is for my Rlaarlo but I pulled them out and when to a multi-spring setup.
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/jerolds-rlaarlo-build.138240/#post-1379893

If that doesn't work for you can always add additional springs inside the originals too. This is still being tested but seems to be better, at least initially.
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/jerolds-rlaarlo-build.138240/page-2#post-1380702
 
Wow, nice build! It's so pretty.

If you are going to send it/speed run it, you will want the front much lower than the rear and limit squat as you mentioned.

I have a Slash as well. If I crank up the preload it stiffens it, but also raises the height and makes it a bit tippy. But I'm also running SCT tires, not GRPs and that doesn't help

To limit the squat, some people use nitro tubing on the shock shaft, which I have done and it works, but it's a huge pain in the butt. Otherd lock the rear with turn buckles. I'm not a fan of that because my road aren't smooth enough. It's an infinite spring rate and it can get really bouncy really quickly.

What does work is to put grommets over the shock shaft creating a bump stop. It's way easier than the nitro tubing and is pretty solid. This is what I did for my Limitless. The link below is for my Rlaarlo but I pulled them out and when to a multi-spring setup.
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/jerolds-rlaarlo-build.138240/#post-1379893

If that doesn't work for you can always add additional springs inside the originals too. This is still being tested but seems to be better, at least initially.
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/jerolds-rlaarlo-build.138240/page-2#post-1380702
I really like your coaxial spring idea. I’m planning to internally limit the travel with some delrin tube. I need to take a few measurements to find out how long the spacers need to be. Fully extended shock length minus shock length at my desired ride height should get me pretty close. That with your coaxial spring idea should get me close to where I need to be Suspention wise. There won’t be any down travel with that setup but everything is a compromise I guess when you’re trying to do stuff with a model that was never intended to do the stuff you’re trying to do 😂. Ultimately I’m going to need a set of shocks just for speed runs but that’s not in the budget at the moment.

Question for you since it’s seems like you’re pretty knowledgeable on speed run setup. For aero, do you think I should trim the “rear bumper” of the body to sort of act like a diffuser?

I had intended to get a sheet of carbon to make a front splitter/floor/diffuser so I had something to seal the lower edges of the body to, but my budget has temporarily been cut, so I want to do what I can with what I have on hand at the moment.

Another thought I had in a similar train of thought was to install a wheelie bar. I have a very nice carbon one intended for a drag slash but can easily be adapted to work on the 4x4 chassis. I haven’t done it yet because I’m hesitant to cut a big notch out of the back of the body to clear it.
 
I don't know about knowledgeable, there is so much to know about it. But thank you. I've gotten to 131mph with the Limitless, so I'm a small fish in this area but I'm happy to share what I've learned. Most of the speed runners I know virtually hang in the Arrma Forums and they are wealth of knowledge.

All this depends on how fast you want to go. 50-60MPH, you're probably good, just keep the nose down. Things get a little weird approaching 100, but the short wheel base of the Slash make it challenging. At 150 all kinds of strange things happen. The stresses are incredible and it's hard on all the parts, bearings, axles, tires and maintenance is constant. Also the aero become much more critical at that point. Too much aero limits your speed and not enough makes it a plane. But there is so much more setup beyond the aero to start getting close to that number.

This is my Limitless build log if your interested. It's a bit wordy, but I look at this like my notebook so I don't forget what I did.
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/jerolds-limitless-build.49292/

Keep in mind that speed running is sort of a big experiment. There will be a lot of trial and error and mistakes will be made. If you want the big numbers it's takes patients, practice and a very good road.

It's hard to say what is definitively correct for the aero. With that said, most speed run cars have a rear diffuser or are open and I haven't seen many will full bodies on them. Even the stock Slash body is open. I wouldn't worry about the back coming off the ground if you have a wing on the back, the down force should over come any lift created. Although, it might create some drag. I would be more concerned about the body catching the air and turning inside out, but that only happens very high speeds, 150+MPH.

If you're concerned about it, you can make sure the sides of the body are secure. The Slash chassis tub is a bit small for any full size body and you might want some sort of side plate. I haven't run these, it is not an endorsement, just an example: https://www.islandhobbynut.com/product-page/traxxas-slash-4x4-aluminum-battery-trays. You may want either duct tape or some sort of rails to keep the sides from flopping around.

For the rear you can vent it with holes or do some sort of "grill" with screen like on the full size Porsche. But again under 100MPH I don't "think" it will be much of an issue.

A lot of this (IMHO) is to keep the front end lower than the back and a splitter will help. It not only slices the air cleanly but helps keep the turbulent air from getting under the car. It's nice, but you don't need carbon fiber for the splitter. Personally I'm a big fan of ABS. It's inexpensive, easy to work and very durable. If you have a Tap Plastics near you, they usually have a scrap bin and you can get pretty good size pieces for $1. If not you can buy a 12"x12" sheet on Amazon for like $15.

There are options like Send Cut Send but it's $30 minimum order for a $3 part. Which means you might as well order 10 of them. But who needs 10 Slash splitters.
 
I don't know about knowledgeable, there is so much to know about it. But thank you. I've gotten to 131mph with the Limitless, so I'm a small fish in this area but I'm happy to share what I've learned. Most of the speed runners I know virtually hang in the Arrma Forums and they are wealth of knowledge.

All this depends on how fast you want to go. 50-60MPH, you're probably good, just keep the nose down. Things get a little weird approaching 100, but the short wheel base of the Slash make it challenging. At 150 all kinds of strange things happen. The stresses are incredible and it's hard on all the parts, bearings, axles, tires and maintenance is constant. Also the aero become much more critical at that point. Too much aero limits your speed and not enough makes it a plane. But there is so much more setup beyond the aero to start getting close to that number.

This is my Limitless build log if your interested. It's a bit wordy, but I look at this like my notebook so I don't forget what I did.
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/jerolds-limitless-build.49292/

Keep in mind that speed running is sort of a big experiment. There will be a lot of trial and error and mistakes will be made. If you want the big numbers it's takes patients, practice and a very good road.

It's hard to say what is definitively correct for the aero. With that said, most speed run cars have a rear diffuser or are open and I haven't seen many will full bodies on them. Even the stock Slash body is open. I wouldn't worry about the back coming off the ground if you have a wing on the back, the down force should over come any lift created. Although, it might create some drag. I would be more concerned about the body catching the air and turning inside out, but that only happens very high speeds, 150+MPH.

If you're concerned about it, you can make sure the sides of the body are secure. The Slash chassis tub is a bit small for any full size body and you might want some sort of side plate. I haven't run these, it is not an endorsement, just an example: https://www.islandhobbynut.com/product-page/traxxas-slash-4x4-aluminum-battery-trays. You may want either duct tape or some sort of rails to keep the sides from flopping around.

For the rear you can vent it with holes or do some sort of "grill" with screen like on the full size Porsche. But again under 100MPH I don't "think" it will be much of an issue.

A lot of this (IMHO) is to keep the front end lower than the back and a splitter will help. It not only slices the air cleanly but helps keep the turbulent air from getting under the car. It's nice, but you don't need carbon fiber for the splitter. Personally I'm a big fan of ABS. It's inexpensive, easy to work and very durable. If you have a Tap Plastics near you, they usually have a scrap bin and you can get pretty good size pieces for $1. If not you can buy a 12"x12" sheet on Amazon for like $15.

There are options like Send Cut Send but it's $30 minimum order for a $3 part. Which means you might as well order 10 of them. But who needs 10 Slash splitters.
Right now I’m just trying to be the first of my RC buddies to break 100mph. My best so far was 68 with the actual slash body on it. As you’d imagine it blew over but there was definitely more in it. I feel like I’ll be in much better shape with the Porsche body. It just looks so damn good I REALLY don’t want that to blow over too! Haha.

I’m probably going to get a nice piece of abs or something of that nature like you suggested to build a floor from and if it works well after my budget issue clears up I’ll re-do it in carbon because… carbon. The nice part about the abs is it can be formed pretty easily with some heat. I may take a stab at some inner fenders and a realistic diffuser for fun. I’ll probably make a buck from wood by hand for the diffuser shape. Should be a fun project.

There is definitely a Limitless in my future when I just can’t push this little slash any further.
 
Right now I’m just trying to be the first of my RC buddies to break 100mph. My best so far was 68 with the actual slash body on it. As you’d imagine it blew over but there was definitely more in it. I feel like I’ll be in much better shape with the Porsche body. It just looks so damn good I REALLY don’t want that to blow over too! Haha.

I’m probably going to get a nice piece of abs or something of that nature like you suggested to build a floor from and if it works well after my budget issue clears up I’ll re-do it in carbon because… carbon. The nice part about the abs is it can be formed pretty easily with some heat. I may take a stab at some inner fenders and a realistic diffuser for fun. I’ll probably make a buck from wood by hand for the diffuser shape. Should be a fun project.

There is definitely a Limitless in my future when I just can’t push this little slash any further.
A big problem with my Slash is the SCT tires, the balloon like crazy and make it a little twitchy.

Stiffen the suspension, drop the nose. add the splitter and send it. Video please. :p
 
You may prefer the handling after changing to the GTR Traxxas shocks.
I forget now which ones you need (regular / long / xx long)

I liked the stiffer suspension and went with the hard springs that have the purple mark on them. After doing that the Slash was actually controllable with the MM2 and 1515 (2200kv) motor.

Slash subaru.JPG
 
You may prefer the handling after changing to the GTR Traxxas shocks.
I forget now which ones you need (regular / long / xx long)

I liked the stiffer suspension and went with the hard springs that have the purple mark on them. After doing that the Slash was actually controllable with the MM2 and 1515 (2200kv) motor.

View attachment 167315
I have the stiffest springs on the proline powerstroke shocks now. It actually handles pretty well for normal bashing and oval racing. I’m trying to so some speed run stuff too. That’s where the issue is. When it really gets moving the rear squats and it’s just inviting a big blow over. The plan is to put internal limiters so they behave like shorter shocks and will allow me to crank the preload up without raising the ride height. Hopefully that works cause those shocks weren’t cheap! If not it’ll be back to the drawing board.

That’s a cool slash. Are those GRP’s or something else? I have a set of GRP’s and they’re great but they’re getting pretty shagged. That’s why I threw the hoons on. The Hoons don’t handle nearly as well as the GRP’s IMO. They drift pretty well but they’re unpredictable when actually cornering.
 
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